The North American rail equipment fleet increased its total size during the first quarter of 2024. The total equipment count was 2,111,671, for a change of about 0.1 percent, or nearly 1,600 cars.
The four largest segments during the quarter were Covered Hoppers (29 percent), Tank Cars (22 percent) and Gondolas and Intermodal (10 percent).
Covered Hoppers led gains, up 0.8 percent. Intermodal led declines, down 1.5 percent, followed by Box Cars, down 1.4 percent.
The total count of equipment in the revenue-earning fleet stands at about 1.64 million, still showing positive growth from the previous quarter. Covered Hoppers increased 0.4 percent for the second quarter in a row, and Box Cars declined by 1.4 percent.
The revenue-earning fleet is a subset of the North American rail fleet that is largely composed of freight cars that can be used in interchange service and against which an interline waybill can be placed. The revenue-earning fleet of freight cars is made up of six sub-fleets: box cars, covered hoppers, flats, gondolas, open hoppers and tank cars.
Data Source: Railinc Umler® System. Data represents all equipment units on files, including pre-registered, restricted and scrap units.
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